At least 31 suspected illegal miners dead in Free State
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy says it's feared that at least 31 suspected illegal miners have died at a Virginia mine near Welkom in the Free State.
Officials believe many of them were from Lesotho.
It's understood the group had entered a ventilation shaft.
The Department says in a statement that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations of the Kingdom of Lesotho has relayed the message to the High Commission of South Africa that the group of suspected illegal miners died last month.
The incident is reported to have happened in the ventilation shaft of the Virginia Mine, which was last operational in the 1990s.
It says three bodies have been retrieved and brought to the surface by other illegal miners.
Inspectors are now working with the previous owners of the mine, Haromy, and determined that the methane levels in the mine ventilation shaft 5 are very high.
This means it is too risky to dispatch a search team to the shaft.
Other options are now under consideration to deal with the situation.
